Races
The races in Crafthammer are great and many. They all have a very specialized culture and history. Humans A bipedal species averaging at the height of 5'8, the Human is a particularly resourceful group capable of feats rivaling those of dwarves, however they are held back by their tendency to dissolve into infighting over the smallest of disagreements. Angeln Making up the backbone of the Human administrative empire, the Angelns are a clever subrace of Human marked by their peach skins and blonde hair. Taking pride in being the descendants of Herragon, due to Herragon coming from an Angeln Tribe before the formation of the First Imperium, they often end up being the most zealous of New Way worshippers. Sahsen A stern brown haired subrace of Humanity, the Sahsen cling sternly to the beliefs of their ancestors, The Old Way before Herragon rallied the Northern Tribes into the First Imperium. While lesser in number than the Angelns (due to the Human Exile from Hjemland giving prominence to Angelns passengers over Sahsen) they still make up a significant minority of 35% of the Human population, which dissuades even the most radical of Angelns from pushing the Sahsen community to give up their beliefs. Calets Tall, strong, yet red haired and pale, the Calets are a stark difference from Angelns. Highly desired in armies, the Calets are a mighty berserker troop, Caleten Reavers are well known for their proficiency in battle, well tested by battlefields filled with the remains of Orc-Raiding parties. Making up only 10% of the Human population, they don't threaten the Angeln population as much as the Sahsens do. However there have been recent efforts by Angelns to convert the still significant Calaten Old Way population in order to secure Angeln superiority over the Sahsens. Dwarves A bipedal species averaging at the height of 3'12, the Dwarf is a short stout species with an inclination towards construction and mining. A particularly blunt species, Dwarves are known to be an extremely prideful species, even to points of keeping vendettas centuries after. Aards Dwarves primarily from the desert regions of the South East known for their warlike tendencies, they worship a single God in stark contrast to the polytheistic religions of their northern brethren and of other races. Primarily marked by their olive skin, and dark/ashy hair, the Aards are taller than other Dwarven subspecies. Despite their warlike tendencies, the Aards are also known as great traders, bringing exotic spices from lands unknown, telling tales of massive jungles and their strange-looking inhabitants. Thalaj Literally meaning ice in the Dwarven language, the Dwarves that lived in the mountains surrounding the Human Valleys were known to the Aardian Dwarves as the "Ones Lost to Ice". Thalaj Dwarves are much paler than their Desert counterparts, and typically are differentiated by their braided red hair, and painted chests. They are much more pacifistic compared to Aardian Dwarves, but will still defend their territories if threatened. Despite their seemingly isolated position from the Aardian Khazanates, they were forced to flee from their homelands once the humans began a purification campaign against all non-human races. Asli A now extinct subspecies of Dwarf, the Asli were known to the Aards and the Thalaj as "The Ancestors" however Aarbs view them in a more subtle respectful manner in stark contrast to their Thalaj counterparts who revere them as divine beings. The divide that lead to the division of Aards and the Thalaj is unknown due to the massive number of conflicting legends and folktales that each tell a different story. From what is known of Asli, is that they preferred to stay underground unlike their descendants. However, what they looked like differs between the Aards who believed them to be massive with skin of ash, and the Thalaj that viewed them as angelic-like creatures with pale-white skin. Elves A bipedal species averaging at the height of 6'4, the Elf is much frailer in comparison to a man. They value the ideals of balancing nature, which has lead to many conflicts with the more resource-consuming ways of dwarves and men. Barph Ka Janm The towering Snow Elves of northern Elmare typically reach heights of 7'2, and often look intimidating on the battlefield, however due to their frailer frame, the Barph Ka Janm (Born of Snow) are more proficient in ranged weaponry such as the bow rather than the more physically demanding swords or axes preferred by other races. Their skin is a pale white, with complementing fair hair or white hair to match. While at one point a minority Elven species on Elmare, the purification campaigns carried out by Humans against Wood Elves and the gradual push of Desert Elves out of southern Elmare have led the Snow Elves to take on the role of the primary Elven Race. Lakarhi The Lakarhi, or Wood Elf, are the smallest of all Elven Subraces, barely reaching the height of 5'12 making them more comparable to Angeln humans than their Snowy counterparts. Despite this, the Lakarhi were the strongest Elven race before the Human Exile to Elmare, due to their smaller statures allowing for easier guerrilla warfare against invaders. However despite this, the Lakarhi couldn't stand up to Human Steel and were gradually forced out of their territories, before finding sanctuary in the Snow Elf territories.The Lakarhi have a peach-Angeln like skincolor, however they are easily distinguished by their pointed ears and straw blonde hair, however it is not unknown for Lakarhi to have brown hair. Sehraa The Sehraa, or Desert Elf, are average sized for Elven Subraces with tanned bronze skin and black hair. Before the arrival of the Dwarves, the Sehraa were a nomadic-Elven species that culturally only relied on the bare-basics, which allowed for easy domination of Desert Elves by the more resource-intensive Aardian Dwarves. Unlike the Humans however, the Dwarves didn't go on purification campaigns against the Sehraa elves, preferring to adopt a similar taxation model they once imposed on Humans in their homelands, however the majority of Sehraan Elves left the new Dwarven colonies on more peaceful terms, refusing to bow down to a non-Elven overlord.